Process for forming embossed foil pictures



United States Patent [1113,523,503

[72] Inventors sligmett JMa mes OtBoyIe 5 References Cited au inneso a;Marlyn W. Rodi, Minneapolis, Minnesota UNITED STATES PATENTS 2 Appl.589,948 2,969,728 1/]96] Horn 101/32 22 Filed Oct. 27, 1966 2,988,8386/1961 Morgan ll/32 [45 Patented Aug. 1 970 3,283,7l4 1 H1966 Carpenteret al [Oi/32X [73 Assignee Webb Publishing p y 3,345,l7l 10/ l 967Laridon C! 21] lOl/28UX St. Paul, Minnesota F REI PATENTS a Corp.ofMinnesota 247,347 6/1960 Australia 96/30 495,457 11/1938 Great Britain101/211 Primary Examiner- Robert E. Pulfrey Assistant Examiner .1. ReedFisher 54 PROCESS son FORMING EMBOSSED FOIL Ammey- Robe Dunning PICTURES8 clalms6 Drawing Flgs' ABSTRACT: Embossed pictures are formed byproducing a [52] U.S. Cl 101/32, composite positive made by scribing thedark areas of an en- 101/24, 401.1.96/32 larged negative, and thenscribing the dark areas of the posi- [51] Int. Cl B4lm 1/24, tive formedtherefrom. An embossing plate is produced from a G03f 7/16 reversenegative formed from the composite positive. A panel [50] Field ofSearch101/32, is printed with a printing plate made from the original art 28.21 1:96/30. 32, 40, 44; 101/401.] work, and then embossed with theembossing plate.

PROCESS FOR FORMING EMBOSSED FOIL PICTURES This invention relates to animprovement in a process for forming embossed foil pictures and dealsparticularly with a means of producing in quantity pictures produced onmetal foil which have been embossed to reflect the light in a manner toprovide a highlighted pictorial representation.

An object of the present invention resides in providing a pictorialrepresentation, preferably printed on a metallic foil sheet andcharacterized by areas which may be of the same color which arehighlighted so that the appearance of the picture varies according tothe light which is reflected from these areas.

It has been found that pictures of various types are extremelyattractive when printed on a metal foil which tends to reflect thelight. It has been further found that pictures of this type become evenmore unusual and attractive in appearance if the surface of the foil isembossed. The present invention resides in a manner of producing suchprints.

It has further been found that if the metal sheet itself is embossed, ittends to flatten out when placed under pressure, such as will occur whena picture is framed. However, by laminating the foil onto a backingsheet of paper or similar material with wax, the wax tends to hold thefoil in its embossed shape so that the print will permanently retain itsembossed form.

These and other objects and novel features of the present invention willbe more clearly and fully set forth in the following specification andclaims.

In the drawings forming a part of the specification: FIGURE 1 is adiagrammatic illustration of the art work.

FIGURE 2 discloses a greatly enlarged line negative of the art workillustrated in FIGURE 1, and in which the emulsion has been scribed witha scribing tool to separate the dark areas of the negative into a seriesof lines which may be parallel or curved in spaced relation to providean attractive design.

FIGURE 3 is a view similar to FIGURE 2 showing a positive of the artwork which is transparent, and which is scribed with a scribing tool todivide the darkened areas of the positive into spaced lines.

FIGURE 4 illustrates a wrong reading or reverse negative of the art workin which the periphery of the negative is painted with an opaque paintso as to remove the area surrounding the actual art or picture.

FIGURE 5 illustrates a negative which is made to provide a backgroundfor the actual art work, and in which the actual art work is paintedover with opaque paint so that only the background area of the negativeremains.

FIGURE 6 illustrates a light-sensitive plate such as is used in letterpress printing machines which has been exposed first to the negativebearing the art work, and then exposed to the negative bearing thebackground. This plate is then etched to a depth of perhaps three and ahalf-thousandths (.0035) of an inch.

The actual picture produced by the present process is preferablyreproduced on reflective metal foil which has been laminated to a paperbackground with wax or similar material as the adhesive. The drawingsillustrate the various steps of forming an embossed print from originalart work. The method involves both the making of a printing plate forprinting the art work on the surface of the foil, and then embossing thefoil to enhance the appearance of the print. The entire process startswith the original art work. The method of forming the etched plate willfirst be described.

The artwork is illustrated in general by the numeral 10. The art workmay be in several colors, or may be merely a black and white print. Theart work may include darkened areas such as 11, and blank areas such as12 which are later to be filled in with a predetermined type ofbackground. In the illustration, a tree is illustrated standing on ahillside with certain areas 13 of the background shaded or colored.

The first step of the process is to provide a. greatly enlargedtransparent photographic negative which is indicated in FIGURE 2 by thenumeral 14. This negative normally comprises a plastic film, and theemulsion on the film has been removed in the light areas of the actualart work so that the darkened areas 15 of the negative 14 correspond tothe light areas of the art work. The dark or partially dark areas of theemulsion on the negative 14 are scribed with a scribing tool whichscrapes lines of the emulsion from the negative. These scribed linesdivide the darkened area of the negative into spaced lines rather thansolid areas. Preferably, the scribing of the negative has a tendency tofollow the shape of the original art work or to blend with it. In otherwords, the negative is preferably not scribed with a series of lineswhich extend in parallel spaced relation throughout the negative, butareas of the negative are scribed with curved or straight lines whichextend in different directions in different areas of the negative.

As indicated in FIGURE 3 of the drawings, a transparent positive 16 isformed from the transparent negative, so that the dark areas of thepositive correspond to the light areas of the negative 14. The positive16 is usually a plastic sheet bearing a light-sensitive coating which isexposed through the negative. The emulsion on the positive 16 is thenscribed in the same manner as the negative 14, to divide the darkenedareas into spaced areas of emulsion between which the emulsion has beenscraped away by the scribing tool, thus forming a composite positive.Due to the fact that both the negative 14 and the positive 16 arematerially enlarged from the size of the finished print, the scribedlines appear much closer together in the finished print than in eitherthe negative or the positive.

The composite positive thus produced is re-photographed and greatlyreduced to bring the plates to proper size for printing. A wrong readingor reverse negative is then formed. The periphery of this negative ispainted with an opaque paint so as to remove the area surrounding theactual art or background. The numeral 17 indicates the reverse readingnegative, and shows peripheral areas 19 of the negative painted out withan opaque paint so that only the art work remains unmasked. A mask 20 ismade from the outline in the reverse reading negative 17 which isindicated in FIGURE 5 by the numeral 20. This mask 20, contrary to themask 17, obscures the art work and leaves only the background area ofthe transparency transparent. Such areas are indicated by the numeral21.

The mask 20 is used to produce a predetermined background for thepicture. This may be accomplished by producing a transparency in whichthe blank areas 21 of the mask 20 are filled with a predetermineddesign. For example, the transparency mask 21 may be exposed on atransparent negative through a film of plastic which is stippled, lined,or otherwise patterned to produce a background of a predetermined typeand style.

A plate of the type used for letterpress or the like and bearing alight-sensitive surface is then exposed first to the negative bearingthe art work, and then to the negative bearing the background. Thisplate is then etched to a depth of perhaps three and one-halfthousandths (.0035) of an inch. When this plate contacts the foil, itembosses the foil.

A printing plate for printingthe art work upon the surface of the foilis then formed. These plates may be of different types to suit differenttypes of printing. Starting from the original art work, a negative orpositive is formed through a half-tone screen which divides the pictureinto spaced dots. Obviously, if the art work is in several colors, aseries of screens must be produced from the art work to print each ofthe various colors. A negative or positive is thus formed from which theprinting plate may be produced. The method of forming a typical printingplate will be described.

The etched plate is indicated in general by the numeral 22 in FIGURE 6of the drawings. In forming the printing plate or plates, the negativeor positive is formed from which the offset printing plate may beproduced. This negative or positive is actually a triple exposure. Thefirst exposure is of the half-tone of the original art work. The secondexposure is of the background negative with the art work area paintedaway, and may comprise the negative 20 illustrated in FIGURE 5 of thedrawings. The third exposure is merely of a negative or positive havinga borderline designed to encircle the picture. In other words, thisthird exposure may comprise a rectangular darkened area which enclosesthe art work and background.

After the printing plate has been produced, the laminated foil isprinted with the printing plate, or series of printing plates in theevent the picture is in more than one color. The printed foil sheet isnext embossed by the etched plate 22 which forms ridges in the foilcorresponding to the scribed lines in the negative or positive. Thepicture thus formed is extremely attractive as the picture includesclosely spaced ridges extending in various directions which tend tocatch and reflect the light to enhance the appearance of the finishedprint.

The various FIGURES of the drawings are diagrammatic, in that it isimpractical to show various shades ofcolor as well as the completelydark and light areas. In other words, the views would seem to indicatethat only dark and white areas are present; but in reality the art workhas gradations of color between the two extremes. In scribing thenegative of FIGURE 2, only the darker shades are scribed, and the sameis true of FIGURE 3. Actually, the scribed areas of FIGURE 2 wouldappear lightly in FIGURE 3; but these lines have been omitted in theinterests of clarity, and to distinguish between the scribed areasformed in the negative and in the transparent positive. In a similarmanner, the composite result of scribing the art work as in FIGURES 2and 3 has been omitted from FIGURE 4, it being understood that theresult of scribing the art work in FIGURE 1 would appear in FIGURE 4,within the opaque peripheral areas.

We claim:

1. A process of producing embossed pictures including the steps of:

producing a transparent photographic continuous tone negative of theoriginal art work greatly enlarged relative to the original art work,

scribing the dark areas of emulsion to divide the dark areas into spacedareas,

forming a transparent continuous tone positive from the scribednegative, and of the same size as the negative,

scribing the dark areas of the positive to divide the dark areas intospaced areas forming a composite positive,

producing a reverse negative from the composite positive,

of greatly reduced size relative to the positive,

exposing a plate having a light sensitive surface from the reversenegative and etching the plate to a substantial depth,

forming a negative or positive from the original art work through ahalf-tone screen, and of the same size as said reverse negative exposinga printing plate having a light sensitive surface through the last namednegative or positive to form a printing plate,

printing a sheet with the use of the printing plate, and

embossing the sheet with the first mentioned etched plate.

2. The process of claim 1 and in which the sheet includes a foil layer.

3. The process of claim 1 and in which the sheet comprises metal foillaminated to paper with a waxy material.

4. The process of claim I and in which a series of printing plates areexposed, each plate being adapted to print a different color.

5. A process for producing embossed foil pictures including the stepsof:

producing a greatly enlarged transparent continuous tone negative of theoriginal art work,

scribing the emulsion on the dark areas of the negative to divide thearea into elongated spaced areas,

forming a continuous tone positive of the scribed negative of the samesize as said negative,

scribing the emulsion on the dark areas of the positive to divide thearea into elongated spaced areas, thus forming a composite positive,

producing a greatly reduced reverse negative of the positive.

painting out the background area of the reverse negative,

producing a negative of a background design, of the same size as saidreverse negative,

painting out the art work area on the last named negative,

exposing a light sensitive plate to the negative of the art work withthe background painted out and to the background negative with the artwork area painted out, and etching the plate to a substantial depth,

forming a half-tone negative or positive from the original art work, ofthe same size as said reverse negative,

forming a negative or positive by exposing the film to the half-tonenegative or positive of the art work and then to the background negativeor positive with the art work painted out,

forming a printing plate from the last mentioned negative or positive,

printing the foil with the above mentioned printing plate,

and

embosing the foil with said etched plate.

6. The process of claim 5 and in which the foil is laminated to paperwith wax.

7. The process of claim 5 and in which a series of printing plates areproduced, each capable of reproducing a different color.

8. The method of forming an embossing plate including the steps of:

producing a transparent photographic continuous tone negative of theoriginal art work which is greatly enlarged relative to the original artwork,

scribing the dark areas of emulsion to divide the dark areas into finelyspaced areas,

forming a transparent continuous tone positive from the scribed negativeand of substantially the same size as the negative,

scribing the dark areas of the positive to divide the dark areas intofinely spaced areas, forming a composite scribed positive,

producing a reverse negative of greatly reduced size relative to thepositive from the positive,

exposing a plate having a light sensitive surface from the reversenegative and etching the plate to a substantial depth to form anembossing plate.

